How would it make me feel? Smog, sewage, overcrowding and deadly infection: just some of the health hazards faced by our Victorian ancestors. And they probably suffered a lot with malnutrition, right? Well, that’s what I thought, until I came across a fascinating study by historian Professor Judith Rowbotham and pharmaco-nutritionist Dr Paul Clayton. It said that the mid-Victorian diet was among the healthiest of all time.
Food writer Henry Southgate advised cooking the pasta in boiling water and milk to give it more flavour. As for the sauce, there was no roux involved. He placed half of the pasta in a buttered dish, spreading half the parmesan and more butter on top. He then repeated with a layer of pasta, the rest of the cheese and some breadcrumbs before baking in the oven.